Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Here’s a run down of a big stack of books that publishers have sent me to review. I haven’t had a chance to read these cover to cover, so my feedback is based on partial reads and skimming these books. Put another way, if a friend asked me “should I get this book?”, then what I’d tell them is what I’ve said below for each book.

Nikon D800: From Snapshots to Great Shots

Nikon D800: From Snapshots to Great Shots by Jeff Revell is basically the beginners guide to photography using a Nikon D800. Of course, if you are a beginner you probably shouldn’t have a D800 (see why here), so I don’t get the purpose of this book. It’s pretty with nice images, but honestly there are much better books. Go check out my Which Photography books should I read? article for my advice on more helpful books to read. I’d advise reading those others and if you are still wanting more, then look at this book (if you are a D800 owner).

Canon 5D Mark III: From Snapshots to Great Shots

Canon 5D Mark III: From Snapshots to Great Shots by Ibarionex Perello goes a step farther than the D800 book above by offering a DVD for an extra fee where the author verbally gives you more examples of the content covered in the book. For some, this will help you learn better but for those who can absorb information from books I’d say it’s safe to skip the DVD. My Which Photography books should I read? article still offers more helpful books to read, but this book does earn some kudos for diving a bit into the top video and sound equipment which aspiring amateur videographers might find helpful. Like the book above, it’s nicely laid out but the 5D Mark III is good enough on its own that I don’t think many will find much need for this book after a brief initial learning curve.

Nikon D3200

Nikon D3200: From Snapshots to Great Shots by Rob Sylvan is a book written about a beginner camera for beginners, so in this sense it makes more sense than the previously two discussed books as the camera and subject material are appropriate for the same audience. It’s not afraid to discuss the auto modes and all the feature of this camera from a beginners perspective, so it’s a nice gift book for a new D3200 owner.

Recommended as a gift for new D3200 owners

Exposed: Inside the Life and Images of a Pro Photographer

Exposed: Inside the Life and Images of a Pro Photographer by Michael Clark is kinda like a Joe McNally’s The Moment It Clicks where it’s effectively like having a chat with the author over a beer about his life as an adventure photographer. There’s very little education in the content of the book, but the included DVD kinda makes up for it as it shows how he does his post-processing. Readers on Amazon seem to like, it, but I wasn’t impressed enough to finish the book. Your mileage may vary.

Well, he might but myself and the two other people who I loaned a copy of this book to could never get inspired enough to finish this book either. It’s dry and never really grabs you.

Of course, I should say up front that I also wanted to poke my eyes out when trying to read the well respected book The Photographer's Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos by Michael Freeman, so just because I don’t like it doesn’t mean that you won’t love it. However, you won’t be seeing a full review of this book from me – that’s for sure.

Envisioning Family: A photographer's guide to making meaningful portraits of the modern family

Envisioning Family: A photographer's guide to making meaningful portraits of the modern family by Tamara Lackey has something a lot of photography books lack – excellent images. To me it is a simple, but fundamental thing that every photography book should get right even before the first word is written. What follows is a book where the author pours her heart and soul into a book that I think women will really enjoy. I think “get to the point” people will be a little frustrated by it, especially if they are intermediate to advanced.

Recommended for women aspiring to have a career or serious hobby in photography.

This book is at the top of my list of “must finish” books, and I hope to do a more detailed review of it on my blog at a later date. It definitely seems like it could make my recommended photography book list!

Highly recommended for intermediate to advanced photographers.

Storytellers: A Photographer's Guide to Developing Themes and Creating Stories with Pictures

My only knock on this book is that it didn’t go into as much depth as I would have expected on a collection of photos to tell a story, but the author educates you on how to accomplish that. Overall this is a good book for those who are looking for compositional tips and how to have their photos tell a story.

Recommended for those advanced photographers who want to push their work to the next level with storytelling.

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. These books were randomly sent to me to me by the respective publishers. As mentioned earlier, there aren’t enough hours in my days to read all of these so this is simply a high level overview of my impressions of these books after casual “bookstore style” thumbing through these books. Recommended books are the ones I’d probably buy if I were at the bookstore.

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